Arson dogs and investigators with the state fire marshal’s office joined Montville Fire Marshal Ray Occhialini in investigating the fire’s cause. Evidence was being tested for accelerants, such as gasoline, at the state crime lab.

The first fire was reported at about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. Firefighters, already on the road for an unrelated fire alarm activation at the nearby St. Thomas More school — someone was warming the head of a lacrosse stick in a microwave, causing smoke to activate the alarm — arrived to find 12-foot flames burning the exterior on one side of the house, Occhialini said.

Saved house

Firefighters from Oakdale, Montville and Chesterfield were able to stop the flames before they spread inside.

Firefighters were back to the house again shortly before 8:30 p.m. Sunday for another fire. This time, Occhialini said, the opposite side of the home was on fire.

The two tenants, who Occhialini said were not injured, were able to use a fire extinguisher to knock down most of the fire. The electrical meter, however, was burned in the fire, and the home remains without power.

Moreira said she took possession of the home after the passing of her uncle, Alfred Fratus, who died in October at the age of 88. He built the home in 1961. The property is the site of a former one-room schoolhouse from Salem, she said.

Moreira, who said she was close with Fratus, said she had been working on improvements to the home, which included a new roof and extensive landscaping.

The estate of Alfred Fratus, Montville Probate Court and Moreira are listed as defendants in an appeal filed March 16 by Fracas’ daughter Evon Fratus. Details of that suit were not immediately available.